


First a little flower

by KillJoys



Series: Missmatch [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, Genderbend, Slice of Life, Yuri
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-20
Updated: 2014-02-27
Packaged: 2018-01-09 09:50:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 11,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1144562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KillJoys/pseuds/KillJoys
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sasuke was the smartest and most athletic girl Naruto had ever met, though she seemed to be lacking a lot of skills such as making friends and smiling. ~ A modern AU where a female Naruto pursues the icy Sasuke.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Distraction

Class was long, and the sun was stinging hot, almost like it was staring at her through a microscope. Sweat was gripping her to her clothes and her bare legs clung uncomfortably to the seat. Naruto twiddled with her bangs and looked about the room. It seemed she wasn’t the only one who couldn’t concentrate in this heat, not that she could concentrate in any other weather but at least it was a proper reason this time. Iruka Sensei was Naruto's favourite teacher but that didn't make the work any less mind-numbing as she paced back and forth calling names, handing out workbooks and writing things just a little too small on the board. _I don’t get why she can’t write things clearer, it’s too fuzzy_.

This was to be her last year of high school but she didn’t feel like there was any hope anymore of passing her classes.  An ant crawled across her desk, drinking in the condensation from her water bottle and wandering then onto her hand. She stared idly as it climbed over the small hairs on her arm. Not giving it a chance to bite her, she flicked it away and picked up her pen.

Instead of wasting a full hour of brainwashing, Naruto did what she normally did; she started doodling. First a little flower, then another, okay now they’re nipples. _Quite nice nipples if I do say so myself_.  The disembodied chest raisins soon became a pair of small perky boobs which grew to become a part of a body. The pen drew out smooth curves and long limbs which gripped onto a long samurai sword, a thick rope wound around her waist which held up a black skirt and Dark eyes stared at her from the paper, a flawless face framed with long jet black hair held tightly in a ponytail. Naruto was becoming quite engrossed in her distraction and although she was no great artist she felt that her drawing reminded her of someone in particular.

Sasuke was the smartest and most athletic girl Naruto had ever met, though she seemed to be lacking a lot of skills such as making friends and smiling. A lot of the boys had tried to talk to her but Sasuke always brushed them off in a blunt kind of way that stunned them for a few seconds in a limp stupor, giving her time to exit the room. At first Naruto had been wildly jealous if not infuriated by the tall girl’s blank expressions and impossible genius, always getting perfect scores.

The previous top-student, Sakura had surprisingly taken quite well to being shown up and it was becoming clear that he had also fallen for Sasuke, always greeting her and offering to buy her lunch. Sakura was nice to people he liked but to Naruto, well he seemed to be offended by her stupidity. Though seeing Sakura fall flat on his proposals after the consistent rebuttals from Sasuke, she wondered who the stupid one was.

Gradually is seemed though, the snobbish air from the black haired beauty stopped being irritating and just became kind of sad. The only person Naruto had seen hold an actual conversation with Sasuke had been their teacher, and even then it was a formality and not social. Many of the students had also begun what Naruto considered bullying; saying things about her she could obviously hear, hiding her textbooks and once she had seen Sasuke leave school in her phys-ed uniform. She didn’t want to know what had happened to her normal clothes.

Now she looked again at the back of Sasuke’s head; her hair was always tied up high and the nape of her neck exposed was suddenly a pot of gold that Naruto could not take her eyes away from.  _What is she thinking right now? I just want to talk to her.. I want to see her smile for once._ Naruto wondered how she could find an excuse talk or maybe even-- Her stomach began to flutter with excitement at an idea that would surely seem insane tomorrow.

-

Naruto stood silently with her back to the wall. As normal, Kiba, Shika and Chouji had left not long after the final bell, their parents meeting them on the street. Sakura and Ino gave Naruto dirty looks and made some comments about something smelling “like failure” as they passed her, laughing on their way out the door. And instead of walking back to her apartment, Naruto decided to go ahead with her spur of the moment idea: To follow Sasuke! Maybe she liked ramen?

Sasuke always waited for everyone else to leave before heading home. She didn’t like the pointless conversations people had while waiting and certainly wasn’t in the mood for making friends. Ever. Friends were complicated and would leave as soon as they got what they wanted from her. That’s how it had always been. That’s what people were like. Thankfully because she never showed any response, the students who had found their fun in hiding or destroying her possessions had lost interest and only occasionally tried to get away with dumbass shit like that.

Picking through her notes and packing away the day’s work sheets and books, she thought about the work she still had to finish but found herself feeling exhausted at the thought of doing anything. She’d always had a good memory, so it was easy for her to learn new things, but lately it had been getting harder to find any motivation to keep continuing this same cycle every day. _Is any of this shit even worthwhile?_ She lifted her pack and headed out, stepping on a crumpled piece of paper; she picked it up and opened it as she walked to the exit. _What the fuck?_ On the paper was what looked like a topless ninja, drawn with way-too-big eyes and a long black pony tail. _Some of the guys in this class… seriously are a bunch of perverts._


	2. For so long

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naruto follows Sasuke into the old Uchiha district.

_It’s not creepy… I’m not being creepy… I’m just concerned! I’m worried about my classmate who speaks to no one and has never smiled. It is completely natural to be worried about someone like that, I mean what if she is having trouble at home, or her family has no money? Maybe she is working to support her sick mother so she doesn’t have time to make friends because she is working so hard?_ Naruto filled her head with endless possibilities to answer the mystery of Sasuke. So much so that a few times she had gotten too deep in thought and forgot that she was meant to be stalk-Following that very person. She wondered why Sasuke never smiled, why she seemed to abhor friendship, despise human contact, and whenever possible, avoided any interactions that involved, well, interacting.

A long black swish of hair swept around another corner and Naruto quietly skulked forward, adhering to the splintering wooden fence that lined the streets in the more run down residential area of Konoha village. The old Uchiha district had been slowly becoming rubble since a little while after the old mayor had bagun running things. No one really talked about it though. She had only been down this area a few times as a kid, playing double dog dare with Shika, Chouji and Kiba to see who could stay in the haunted houses the longest before getting scared. Shikamaru usually won, being the most rational of their group, but Naruto was not a complete wuss and had one night managed to scare Shika so bad that she wouldn’t share her homework for a month. Now that she really looked though, it seemed that a lot of the homes had been burnt. Black shadows leaping from dilapidated roofs and twisted door-frames. when did so many of them burn down?

 _How far are we going? Does she really walk all this way every day?_ Naruto followed Sasuke around another crumbling burnt out apartment block, but this time she was faced with a great expanse; the stale houses had fallen back to reveal a still lake. _It must have been used for fishing_ Naruto supposed, as she could see a half rotten jetty stretching forward and a skeleton of a rowboat, decaying on the shore.

She couldn’t go home just yet, Sasuke felt weary to think about the empty rooms, air so still the silence screamed at her. So instead she had wandered through the empty district, wanting to smell the old smells but only coming up with dust and ash. She just kept walking, trying not to think, until she came to the lake which looked much smaller now for some reason.

It had been this way for so long now; she could barely remember it being any different. Her family was gone, all because of that man. The nightmare had replayed in her head every night for years; even during the days she would keep getting pulled back, as though she was still trapped there, unable to change anything, helpless, useless, worthless child. He had made her see them, did it so she would know how pathetic she was for thinking everyone could be happy. Sasuke ambled across the wooden planks that moaned for their joints being ready to give way. She felt one splinter beneath her but leapt over it before it had the chance to send her crashing down. The last beam looked comfortable enough and she plopped herself down, setting her pack behind her to lean back on.

No one would care anyway, if she didn’t come back. She was pretty sure most of the other students hated her, and the teachers only cared about the stats she was giving the school. What would people say, what would they think if she just, never came back? How long would it take them to realise something was different?

Large clouds swirled far above her and the water was turning as grey as the sky. Naruto had watched a blurry Sasuke sit from behind an old bench, not moving for a few minutes now. Something crawled on her leg and she brushed it off without losing her attention. _Is she asleep?_ She wondered whether it was normal for her to come here like this and would have given anything to know what was going on in that girls mind.

After another hour ( _at least an hour)_ Naruto was certain, Sasuke stirred; with complete grace and flair, she had picked up her pack, unzipped it and flung the contents out onto the water following with the pack itself. _Erm WHAT??? Did she just really do that? What the hell?_ This was weird. _Am I missing something?_ Suddenly Naruto felt quite embarrassed, as though watching something she wasn’t meant to see, something seriously personal. Naruto turned and was about to speed back home leaving the weirdness behind when she heard something that stopped her dead, an aching scream, coming from the only other person within one kilometre of where she stood. Sasuke was hunched over, looking exhausted and swaying slightly. Yeah so they had a lot of assignments to do, Naruto felt like throwing Iruka sensei into a lake sometimes too. But something seemed wrong here. She moved forward a few metres, trying to see or hear anything to explain Sasuke’s strange actions. She zipped down near another rotting boat abandoned on the rocks, accidently tripping in her rush and leaving a bloody gash on the side of her calf but not caring as she squatted quickly in the sand, hoping she wasn’t noticed.

Sasuke was done for. No more, no more nightmares, no more waiting for nothing to change. No more trying to move on. There was nothing to move on to. Everything was burnt. It was all just empty ashes. _HA how ironic. The clan of fire, huh? Well fuck. I’ll drown out the last spark. Then there’ll be nothing._ She ran awkwardly back to the shore and picked up the largest stone she could find. One that was almost too heavy to carry and waddled to the end of the pier. She could see her brother scowling back up at her from the surface of the lake, still rippling as pens and some papers bobbed. Sasuke pulled her shirt over the top of the stone and hugged it tightly to her skin. _Cold_.

Without another thought Sasuke jumped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is a second chapter: They're only short but hopefully 'll be able to update frequently. Please give me any constructive criticism as I've never written before, thanks and please keep reading :)


	3. I can relate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naruto jumps in after Sasuke without a second thought.

Naruto panicked, no one else was around to see what she saw, to do something, adrenaline shot into her heart and she ran.

She stumbled across the stony shore and leapt onto the jetty. It was only a short stretch, but her feet landed unsteadily and pushed through the splintered beams, her leg falling through in her stride and bringing her down to her hands and knees. Pain sparked through her but Naruto grit her teeth and dragged herself free. Where she had been scraped before on the rocks, now her leg had a deeper gash rooted with numerous splinters. Naruto kept moving, slower now, and more wary of the weakened wood.  _How long has it been? How long can she hold her breathe for? Please make it, don’t you dare die, Sasuke._

_-_

It hurt, God did it hurt. Sasuke kept her eyes closed and her arms held tightly onto the sinking stone not letting herself fight. She could see her family’s faces in her mind and they watched indifferently as she ached to join them. _I want to be with you again_. Her lungs burned and her diaphragm convulsed as it tried to suck in air, tried to keep her alive. _No._ She felt herself hit the lake bed as her awareness was losing out. Her body wanted to swim, but Sasuke wouldn’t lose and forced her limbs to relax.

It was silent here, no voices could reach her to keep her awake; no one to lie to her or torture her and soon she wouldn’t have to feel anything else either.

She let her eyes open to see her last sight before she would exposed her lungs to the cold water; a shadow was coming towards her, hands reaching out and she felt them grip her arms tightly. _No no no Itachi no leave me alone please I can’t watch it again I can’t live through it again._ The air she had trapped ruptured out of her as she tried to fight against her brother’s will. Sasuke’s strength was gone, her mind was fading and the world around her clouded to a dark purple.

-

Swimming with clothes on was much harder than it looked. The material became waterlogged and made them both heavy. Naruto gripped Sasuke’s arms and felt the other girl frantically though weakly try to pull away. Bubbles surrounded her and Naruto wrenched Sasuke’s arms away from the stone, letting it drop and stir up the sediment on the lake bed. Sasuke became limp and Naruto's heart stopped, swimming harder to reach the surface. Gripping Sasuke under her arms and across her chest, Naruto breached the lake’s placid surface and sucked in a lung-full of air.

After Sasuke had coughed up the mouthful of water she had breathed in, Naruto, still shaken, collapsed down beside the dark-haired girl, too shocked to cry, so she pushed out a nervous laugh, more afraid than relieved.

“What the heck was that?” She wasn’t sure she expected any kind of response; since she was pretty sure she knew now what it was. “Didn’t you ever learn to take your shoes off when you go swimming?”

Sasuke lie in silence, trying to understand why she was still alive. _Naruto…_ Naruto had pulled her out. She thought she had seen Itachi, but it was the girl from her class; the one who always came last. She felt empty, as though her mind was still swimming back to her still, and she wasn’t sure what to say to the person who had just stopped her from drowning herself.

“Why” Sasuke said in a flat tone, not bothering to sound pleased.

“Why? Why were _you_ having a tea party with a rock at the bottom of a lake? Seriously you’re asking _me_ why?” Naruto almost yelled at her for being so ungrateful, she had just saved her _life_ for goodness sakes. But hesitated, wondering what Sasuke must have been going through to get that deep in the first place.

“If you tell anyone about this, I’ll kill you.” Sasuke wasn’t even going to ask why she had been there or how much Naruto had seen. It was too embarrassing and her heart still hadn’t caught up yet.

“Hey, wait, I’m sorry, Sasuke. Are you going to go home now? Let me come with you.”

“I’m not going to try again, if that’s what you’re thinking. Just leave me alone.” Sasuke rolled onto her side and pushed herself up out of the sand and rocks jabbing into her skin. She took a few steps but wavered and almost fell when an arm came up beneath her and lifted her up onto her feet.

“I think I have the right to help you home now.”

“No, I hate owing people. I don’t need help”

“Well for one, yeah you really do need my help, and two, I didn’t pull you out because I wanted something from you. I just couldn’t let you disappear.” Naruto half shrugged and started pulling Sasuke up the bank, limping slightly on her injured leg. She felt incredibly conscious of the dark haired girl’s wet clothes clinging to her body, and the warm skin of Sasuke’s arm around her neck. 

Sasuke didn’t have the energy to keep fighting, _I suppose that’s what oxygen deprivation does to you._ But she did find it nice to be so close to someone after so many years.

“Now where the heck is your house?” Naruto asked, astounding Sasuke with a wide grin.

-

After a few minutes of shouldered walking, still dripping, the two reached a wooded area surrounding a relatively large building raised on stilts. A veranda seemed to curve around its walls and behind the shuttered windows a silence loomed. Upon reaching the heavily carved wooden front doors, Sasuke turned and removed herself from Naruto's grasp.

“You can go now. I can manage by myself.”

“nuh uh. Not happening. Tonight I’m staying here.” Naruto strided past Sasuke and tried to push open the doors.

“Hey! Usuratonkachi! Who the hell do you think you are? I said leave!” Sasuke grabbed Naruto's shoulder and pulled the blonde girl back from the door.

“Why should I? You could have died in that lake unless I was there!” Naruto was a little shocked to hear herself say it out loud. “Why are you so insistent on keeping all this to yourself? You never talk to anyone, you don’t have any friends, and your house is completely empty” She gestured to the building behind her with a waving arm. “I’m not going to sit back and watch you disappear.”

“What do you want from me?” Sasuke yelled, wet strands of hair still clinging to her face and neck. _Why can’t I just be left alone? It’s better that way._

“I told you before: I don’t want anything, I just want to be your friend. Besides, I know what it’s like… being alone.” Naruto looked away as she said that, it was hard to say it out loud, but it was true. Naruto had never really had anyone she called family. Not since she had started going to classes properly. Even though she was a terrible student, Iruka sensei had always treated her like a person.

“Fuck off, you don’t know me. Don’t pretend like you do.”

“I don’t know exactly, but I’ve never had a family so I can relate.”

“There is a big difference losing your family and never having one!” _Shit_. It had just come out, this was bad. Sasuke watched the girl's eyes darken in front of her and felt a panic rise up inside her chest. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to—“

“It’s fine.” Naruto looked up with a smile that almost seemed genuine. “If you really feel that way then I’ll go.” And with that she began walking unsteadily back down the path, her clothes and hair still dripping wet, towards the gate.

  


Along with the bullying Sasuke had gotten due to her complete refusal to engage anyone unless it was necessary, she had heard a lot of strange things about Naruto too. Some people even avoided her because they thought she was cursed. _What a fucking dumbass village._

“Fine, come in. But don’t blame me when you’re disappointed” Sasuke heard footsteps run up behind her.

“Yey! What’s for dinner? Can we have ramen?”

Sasuke couldn’t help but smirk to herself; _well that turned her around quickly._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please give me any advice to help me become a better writer :) Thanks and please keep reading.


	4. Big fucking melons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inside Sasuke's home; some things happen!

Naruto placed her school pack beside the entrance as she removed her soggy shoes. She now took a look at her leg and saw that the blood had run down from the gash into her sock staining the material with a bright red. It stung a bit so she wrapped her P.E. shirt around it to soak up the blood. Sasuke didn’t bother with her shoes and walked with sodden footsteps down a long carpeted hallway. Naruto quickly picked herself up and followed after her.

The entire house had a very formal feel to it, expensive trimmings and solid wood doors and archways. As far as she could tell there were many rooms, and yet they were all empty. It reminded Naruto of her apartment; dust covered most of the furniture as Sasuke probably didn’t have the time to clean an entire house very often though it was quite tidy, something like a show home in a magazine, but there was an eerie feeling, as though there were spirits still lingering in the empty spaces.

Walking into a brightly lit room, Naruto saw that it was quite a large kitchen with clean white tiled floors and a large window above the workspace through which she could see the carved mountains that watched over the east of the village. Faces of the five Hokages who had founded and protected their village over two centuries ago still clung, weather beaten to the stone. Their eyes glowed briefly while the sun’s rays lingered, slowly darkening as time moved on. A living room with a TV was attached to the kitchen and these were the only rooms that looked somewhat lived in, with a bit of rubbish around and blankets draping over couches. A foot stool with a large dent in it along with a black glass coffee table covered in books who’s titles Naruto couldn’t read from this distance.

“I have some tomato soup left over that I was going to reheat; do you want some of that?” Sasuke asked, already taking a large pot out of an almost bare fridge from what Naruto glimpsed.

“Tomato soup? I don’t think I’ve ever had that before. Did you make it?” Naruto inquired. _I wonder what Sasuke looks like when she’s cooking._

“You’ve never tried tomato soup? Huh… that is strange. You can sit down there.” Sasuke gestured to a large family table with seats on each side.

“Do you, uh” the seat stuck a bit to the floor as Naruto pulled it out “need any help?”

“No I was just going to set it on the heat and go change… do you have any other clothes?” Sasuke realised that Naruto had also still been wearing the same drenched uniform that they walked home in. she was planning on taking the day off tomorrow so she hadn’t thought about what Naruto was going to wear.

“oh I guess not, sorry haha I guess I should have thought of that before I insisted on staying here” the blonde said with a nervous laugh and unconsciously pulled at her long pig tails which had stopped dripping by now. “I might just dry off if I use my will power though.” Naruto grinned widely enough for Sasuke to almost believe the girl.

“Idiot, I’ll get you some clothes and then go have a shower or something. This soup will take a few minutes so I’ll heat it up while you’re doing that.” _She is going to need a toothbrush as well. Why the hell did I let this girl into my house? And suddenly I’m cooking for her. What a bother._ Then again, Sasuke admitted it was much better to have another person’s warmth than the cold emptiness which usually surrounded her.

~

“Naruto, I know I should probably thank you, but … I don’t really know what it is you saved, or why. I have no one, I have nothing, and I don’t have a reason to keep playing this game. I don’t have the constitution to keep fighting any longer.” The tomato soup replied with a bubble and spat red juice onto Sasuke’s cheek. _Well fuck you too, soup._ She listened to the faint rushing of the shower and felt comforted by the sound of another person living in this house again; e _ven if it isn’t an Uchiha. “_ Geez I’m getting all fucking sentimental. Just cook damn you!” Sasuke began wildly stirring the gloriously red soup as it warmed. Trying to keep her thoughts off the other body currently naked in her shower…

~

The clothes were nice, really soft. Naruto could never get her clothes that soft. _What is the secret, I’ll have to ask her later._ She stood in front of a long portrait mirror and inspected herself; the pants had been a little long and there was no underwear, so she had to go commando, _it feels kinda good though. I’m free from the prison! No more shackles baby!_ Her breasts bounced freely underneath the small pyjama top which exposed a line of skin below her stomach. Sasuke’s smaller build meant the clothes were a little tight fitting, but the soft material felt like heaven compared to what Naruto normally wore.

She felt a pang in her leg and lifted up the pants to take another look at the cut; she saw the splinters sticking out of her flesh which had swelled slightly. “ah geez what am I going to do?” But she eventually decided to just tie it back up and wait till she got home to worry about it.

Picking up her damp uniform, Naruto walked back out the bathroom to where Sasuke stood, viciously monitoring the soup. “I’ve finished, where should I put my clothes?”

Sasuke pointed to an open door between the wall and a cupboard which led to a veranda. She strung up her things along a washing line held between two beams and returned to the kitchen. “Thanks, why don’t you go, I can watch the soup for a while.”

Sasuke turned to Naruto and suddenly her blank expression morphed into something Naruto had never seen. Her entire face including her ears became a solid pink and she pursed her lips quickly before turning back around. “uh are you okay?”

“You know maybe you should put on a different top. That one is a little small. I didn’t realize you had such big fucking melons.”

Naruto was a little surprised, _that’s what that was about?_ “You’re not jealous are you?” she said with an audible smirk to her tone. _Finally something I can beat her at!_

“Never mind, it doesn’t matter. Just keep those things under control will you.” She walked out briskly without as much as a glance in Naruto's direction. “--and don’t let the soup boil!” came a final shout down the hall.

Naruto picked up the spoon sitting beside the stove and dipped it into the pot. She had to admit it smelt good and it made her hungry to look at. “Think of it like a tomato ramen, with no noodles apparently…” _there sure is a lot here for just left overs. Maybe she has this every day? She must like it a lot, just like I love ramen._

~

Sasuke returned a few minutes later and saw Naruto sitting below the stove holding her leg. The soup was bubbling away softly so she swiftly turned off the gas and shoved her clothes down over a chair.

“What’s wrong? Did you hurt it?”

Leaning down to take a look, Naruto gave her a smile and said “yeah, just a little. Don’t worry about it.” But when she tried to stand she obviously was having pain and Sasuke commanded her to take a seat.

“It’s fine, really. I just tripped over on that dumb jetty. The wood was super old, someone should really fix that ya know.”

Sasuke didn’t bother replying and unwrapped the shirt; a deep gash ran up the side of Naruto's calf and it had started swelling to try and push the splinters out. “Naruto you dumbass, this is not fine. You need to take the splinters out or you might get an infection. I’ll go get some stuff. Don’t move okay?” she gently lowered Naruto's foot onto another chair and hurried off to find her first aid box.

_Now I’m her fucking doctor too._ Sasuke thought with a small smile playing on her lips.


	5. The Blair witch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is becoming more like a sleepover and Sasuke is slowly warming up to the girl who saved her life.

Sasuke held Naruto's leg gently in her lap as she tweezed out each of the splinters embedded in Naruto's skin.

“Ah! Ow, be gentle with me Dr Sasuke.” Naruto pleaded playfully. Sasuke rolled her eyes and continued her work.

“Don’t distract me. Besides, I’m just about… there done.” Sasuke put the tweezers down on the table and rustled around in her first aid box for anti-septic cream. “This shouldn’t hurt but it’ll feel cold so try not to move.” Squeezing out a blob and using her finger to layer on the wound.

Naruto bit her lip, expecting a sting, but instead feeling coolness pacify the throbbing pain in her leg. “oh mm that is actually quite nice” sighing and letting Sasuke tend to her. _She has a really caring side to her that I never realized… or that she never shows._ “I feel really lucky right now, what a good idea that was to follow you—“

“Follow me?” Sasuke stopped what she was doing and gave Naruto a serious glare “so you _were_ following me. Do I need to ask why? You know what? Forget it. I don’t care.” She unwrapped a length of bandage and tightly wrapped it around Naruto's calf.

Naruto blushed with embarrassment and turned to move her attention somewhere else. “So how long have you lived here by yourself?”

“A while, do you live with anyone?”

“Well I used to live with a foster family but when I started coming to the school I was allowed to live by myself near the campus so long as my attendance was above 90%. Iruka sensei takes me out for ramen when I get passing scores so I’m not alone _all_ the time. Oh and I have plenty of friends to hang out with so ya know…” Naruto trailed off and Sasuke pinned up the material and brushed a hand behind her knee as she pulled down the leg of Naruto's pyjamas. Another blush crept up her neck and she awkwardly moved her hand to her face and grabbed her elbow with her other hand, trying to cover it in a nonchalant way.

“It’s finished now” Sasuke said and set Naruto's leg back down.

“Thanks… you didn’t have to do that you know? I’ve had bad cuts before and they seemed to heal fine on their own. I use my will power to fight off sickness!” flexing her arms to show her biceps.

“Hey what did I say before?” Sasuke griped at Naruto's breasts which swelled under the tight material. “Anyway the soup has probably cooled down a bit. Do you want some?”

“mmm yeah! It smells yummy.” Naruto followed Sasuke back the kitchen and shadowed her and she set out and poured two steamy bowls of the deep red liquid.

The two set down at the table as began sipping the warm soup. After a few seconds Naruto beamed at Sasuke, exclaiming how it was delicious and felt good going into her stomach, almost as good as ramen. Sasuke acknowledged the compliment and finished her bowl, getting up for seconds. _What am I supposed to do now?_ Sasuke still couldn’t quite grasp the girl who sat at the end of the table slurping loudly. Not only that but she couldn’t quite grasp herself around Naruto. Naruto, up until today had only corresponded with Sasuke in a similar way to the others; small talk followed by leaving when they didn’t receive a reply. Naruto had never seemed spiteful about it though. But it wasn’t like she blamed the rest of them, Sasuke knew she wasn’t a nice person. She knew it and she didn’t care.

If she ended up making friends, they would have needed things from her that she couldn’t give; listening to them complain about their families or their siblings teasing them, pretending to be interested in their petty sufferings. Sasuke couldn’t handle that, so when they didn’t get those things, they would try to get other things; using her like their little lap dog, and when that didn’t work out, throwing her away like the trash that she was. Better to skip to the ending than waste energy trying to fit her empty pages into someone else’s book.

Sasuke set down her spoon again after the second bowl and watched absent-mindedly as Naruto gulped down a third gleefully.

“You really were hungry”

“Not really, but this is so delicious! You should make it for me at my place next time.”

“I didn’t realize I was becoming your personal slave” Sasuke grumbled dramatically.

“Well you _do_ kind of owe me your life.”

Although Sasuke felt embarrassed that she had brought that up again, she couldn’t sense any contempt or spitefulness from the blonde, and decided not to take it too seriously. “Well, we have all night, what do you want to do, master?”

Sasuke watched Naruto half-choke on her soup as a red glow crept onto her face.

“y-you” the blush deepened and Naruto looked sideways, covering her mouth with a hand. “I prefer Ma’am.

~

“This is… I don’t even have words to describe how amazing this is. Is that Deep blue sea? Oh my god AND Hard rock zombies. How did you even get that?” Naruto thumbed through the large stack of horror films gleefully that Sasuke happened to have in her possession. _How do you just_ happen _to have over 50 of these?_ Naruto mused to herself.

Sasuke waited impatiently under a paw print doona holding her raspberry leaf tea on one knee. “I got them from a relative. Apparently my cousin Shisui had a horror movie addiction, probably didn’t help when he offed himself.”

Naruto stiffened “maybe they’re cursed?”

“A lot of things to do with my family are cursed. I wouldn’t worry about some dumb excuse for film-making.” Sasuke sipped the almost-scalding liquid “hurry up would you? Just close your eyes and choose.”

“Please, do not rush me during this delicate procedure” plucking her fingers down the spines of several plastic cases, squinting her eyes  and holding her face close while slowly reading the titles and filtering out the worst ones. “mm, yes, this one I think.” Naruto pulled out gently the chosen film and bounced around the coffee table to set it in the player, then moved to turn off the lights.

“Which one is it?”

“The Blair witch project, a classic and one of my favourites, hope you don’t get motion sickness though.” Naruto settled in next to Sasuke and tucked her knees up to her chin excitedly. She felt a nudge and  turned to see Sasuke offering her half of the blanket. “Really? Geez thanks Sasuke, I feel so special being chosen to share the sacred doona!”

“Shut up, just take it.” Sasuke blushed to herself in the darkened room, feeling all too conscious of the warm body she shared a seat with. She continued to sip her tea silently and felt it burn her tounge, but it wasn’t enough to drag her mind away from the girl beside her. _How did I end up in this situation? It is way too sudden…_ "Press play already."


	6. Attempt "The move"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Slightly longer this time - Naruto finds out how Sasuke deals with fear and finds out some things about herself too.

It wasn’t that Sasuke was scared or anything, she just didn’t handle suspense very well. It had all seemed so promising in the beginning; a lame movie with a b grade budget, over in a couple hours, right? Sasuke held tightly to the soft doona and half covered her face, wide eyes waiting for the witch to jump out somewhere. Naruto was practically dozing off. _I thought this was her favourite? Why is she sleeping!? Don’t abandon consciousness now, oh my god is that his HAIR??_ “No don’t go out there! It’s a trap!” Sasuke heard herself squeak at the woman on the screen.

Naruto raised her head to see Sasuke hiding her face in the blanket, peeking out, and gripping the blanket with all her strength. _Is she afraid?_ Naruto watched the blurry images of a forest shake about on the screen and then let her eyes drift back to Sasuke.

It almost seemed too perfect to be reality, here she was, in the home of the girl she dreamt of being acknowledged by, she was a genius, beautiful, and strong, but today, she had tried to kill herself. Naruto decided she would never let it happen again. She would stay beside her, even if Sasuke didn’t feel the same way, Naruto would always be there to pull Sasuke out of the darkness.

Sasuke felt a movement beside her, something touched her behind her neck, and internally screaming, she jumped off the couch, tripping over the blanket to land on the edge of the coffee table, the hitting the side and winding herself.

“Oh my god Sasuke, are you alright? Sorry I scared you! You just looked really nervous and I wanted to... erm well”

“You fucker!” Sasuke wheezed “I forgot you were there! Sleeping away like nothing at all!”

Sasuke pulled herself up and with a shaky voice said “I need a drink, do you want anything?”

“What about the movie? I’ll have some milk if you have any.”

“I’m not really a movie person, of course I have milk.”

Naruto decided to follow Sasuke back into the kitchen and jogged past her to switch on the lights. The sudden brightness was a little blinding and both girls squinted uncomfortably.

Sasuke opened the practically bare fridge again and pulled out a carton of milk, setting it on the table before fetching a glass. She noticed Naruto looking at her empty cupboards and set down the cup noisily. “It’s rude to snoop around you know.”

“I guess being here on your own, you don’t have much money, huh?”

“I have plenty of money. I just forget to go shopping sometimes.”

“you forget? I thought you were meant to be a genius?”

“I’m not that, I just don’t waste my time on unnecessary things. Besides, there isn’t really anything I like.” She poured herself a glass of water from the tap and began sipping it.

“You need to eat a balanced diet ya know? I always get the vegetable ramen or the beef ramen, so it’s balanced. Sometimes I get the fish ramen too, so I get fish, and when Iruka sensei takes me out, I get the combination ramen, so there is everything in there! Just eating tomato soup isn’t healthy.” Naruto gulped her milk down in one shot.

“Usuratonkachi! That’s all just ramen. No wonder your brains are noodles, they’ve gotten so mixed up in all that ramen, your real brain has completely disappeared!” Sasuke let herself laugh honestly. Naruto really was something else.

“How mean, I’m not _that_ dumb.” She said looking glum, though seeing Sasuke laugh like that, made her stomach feel weird, and her hands felt sweaty. _I like that, she looks really happy._ Naruto couldn’t think of what to say after that, and just left the silence to hang between them.

Sasuke lent on the workbench and held the glass in front of her mouth, as though she were about to drink from it “you know, if you want, I could try to give you help on some subjects, what are you doing the worst at right now?”

“Re-really Sasuke? I mean, It might not help that much though, since there is only one year left, and I’m not very good at studying, plus it has been soo humid lately it’s hard to concentrate in class I feel like everything is just bouncing off me…”

“Do you want my help or not?”

 _I would at least get to be near her more_ “yeah, thanks Sasuke. You’re a good friend.” Naruto said with a wide smile.

“Mm” _friend?_ “What do you- umm. What do you mean by that?”

“By what?”

“Friend.” Sasuke retorted seriously.

“Well, I guess it means, we accept each other, right?” Naruto looked into Sasuke’s eyes, trying to get her feelings across the vast expanse between them. “And we’ll always be there for each other. Yeah, I’m your friend, and you’re mine.”

~

 _Seriously? These scores are not good. I thought I could help her but… some of this stuff is really basic!_ Sasuke thumbed through Naruto's marks from the last tests and looked back up at the girl doodling across from her at the coffee table, both sitting on the floor with some crackers Sasuke had found behind a bag of pasta sitting between them.

“Do you always score this low? Although your maths and art scores are a bit better.”  

“Well in art I mostly just do what they tell me to do, and math I can remember because it’s the same thing over and over. English and science are hard though, I can never remember what Sensei tells us, she goes way too fast.”

“Don’t you take notes?”

“I used to, but I just can’t keep up. Plus her writing is all weird and I can hardly read it. Shikamaru and Chouji give me their homework answers sometimes but I can’t remember it for tests.”

“Weird how? Sensei’s writing that is.”

“Well it’s like, fuzzy and too small I guess.”

“Hmm. Okay wait.” Sasuke got up and left the room, returning a few moments later with a sketchbook and a marker. “okay, you sit there and tell me what this says.” Scribbling something quickly and holding the marker cap in her mouth; Sasuke stood on the other side of the room and held up the book:

“mmm” Naruto squinted hard “is it, Pr-a-bil? Prabil? Is that a word?”

Sasuke took a few steps closer “ how about now?”

“Pav-e-ment? Is it that? I don’t get it why are you trying to get me to read it so far away?”

“Okay wait just once more” Sasuke couldn’t believe what she had found out. It was so simple. She stepped closer, only a few feet away now.

RAMEN

“Ramen!” Naruto said excitedly. “It says ramen. Easy.” Laughing to herself and continuing with her doodle. “So why did you want me to do that again?”

“Naruto, don’t you get it? You’re Short-sighted!” Sasuke grabbed the girls shoulders and sook her gently, her blonde pig tails waving back and forth.

“Hey, you made me mark my drawing, and what does that mean? Are you going to make me ramen?”

“Naruto, it means you’re not as dumb as everyone says you are, you just can’t see things far away, _that’s_ why you can’t read what’s on the board, why you can’t take notes and why you do so badly in tests! You just can’t _see_! You see?”

“well no, apparently.” Naruto flushed at Sasuke’s face so close to her own. “so I’m not the Dead-Last?”

“heh, well if you get some glasses, maybe you’ll improve. But you’ll never reach my level” Sasuke teased.

“I just thought everyone saw things like I did, if I improve, Iruka sensei will buy me more ramen, thanks Sasuke.”

Naruto was grinning to herself at the thought of it and Sasuke suddenly felt very endeared to the girl who was now sitting in her living room, drawing strange pictures of… wait a minute.

“Naruto, is that… a ninja?”

Naruto giggled and lifted up the page “yeah, kind of looks like you, right?”

Sasuke remembered the pervy drawing she had stepped on while walking out of class that day. “Do you draw this a lot?”

“hmm I don’t know, I just draw whatever is in my head when I can’t follow in class. It’s not weird is it?”

“no, I guess not. Can I keep this? It is me after all.” Sasuke felt strange knowing Naruto had been the artist behind that drawing, but it kind of made her feel good at the same time.

“Yeah, why not.” Naruto handed it to her and Sasuke slipped it into one of the books now lying on the floor after they had made room for Naruto's school things.

Naruto yawned again and felt tears prickle her eyes, rubbing them away only making her eyes water more. She laid her head down on the paper and wondered if things would be much different now.

“If you’re tired, you should go sleep on a bed. I can set one up for you.” Sasuke shuffled together some papers and laid them in a stack.

“No, it’s okay. You keep doing that; I’m just going to rest for a bit.”

Sasuke felt that that was fine with her, and let the girl next to her drift off while she took notes on the areas Naruto would have to study.

~

After a while, Sasuke had gone through Naruto's notebook and looked over to the blonde whose drool now formed a small pool, seeping through the papers underneath her face. _I think I need to sleep too._

Sasuke didn’t bother to brush her teeth tonight, and turned off the light. Letting herself crash on the couch and drifted off, listening to Naruto's light breathing.


	7. Orange frames

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naruto takes an opportunity with Sasuke as it presents itself.

Sasuke brushed her long black hair and pulled it tightly back into a high ponytail stretching a hair elastic round. She felt it snap it her fingers and frustratingly held her hair with one hand while she searched for another band with the other.

Sleeping on the couch hadn’t been the best idea and sometime during the night, Naruto had arranged pillows on the floor to make a make-shift bed. Sasuke hadn’t wanted to wake her and so now attempted to silently get herself dressed. _Where the hell do they keep disappearing to I swear I bought a new bunch the other week._

A drawer slammed shut a little too loudly and Sasuke flinched, her ears pricking up to hear any signal of Naruto’s awakening.  A tap dripped and Sasuke turned back to her search, her arm aching.

~

“ugh my mouth tastes like death farted in it” Naruto woke on a pile of strewn about pillows; her perfect arrangement had been kicked around during the sleep hours and her left pinky was completely numb.

“Sasuke? You awake?” she voiced to an empty room and gradually picked herself up from the floor, bumping her knee on the glass coffee table on the way up, then stubbing a toe on the dining room chair.

“ahh fffffflappy bird.”

“oh, you are awake, did you sleep alright? You kind of fell asleep on your face.” Sasuke emerged from the veranda holding Naruto's school clothes neatly folded and placed them on the table. “They dried quite quickly in the warm weather.”

“Thanks Sasuke, yeah it’s my talent, sleeping in any situation, but wait ‘til you see how fast I eat ichiraku ramen, especially when I have a coupon.” Naruto smiled at Sasuke and hoped to see that look on her face again, the one when she laughed like she really was happy.

“So what do you plan on doing today? I mean you should probably go to school” Sasuke said walking briskly to the cupboard and pulling out some bread and a jar of some weird looking spread.

“hmm well If I go then Sasuke will be alone. Maybe I should stay here?”

“Idiot, I’m not going to be staying here all day, I’m not as boring as people probably say I am. I do more than just study.”

“I wasn’t saying anything like that!” Naruto tugged her fingers through her bed hair and picked up her clothes. An idea popped into her head which was too good to pass up “I just… well it’s not like I’ll be able to learn anything anyway.  But I don’t really know how to get something like glasses, what if I get the wrong ones?”

“You want me to help you buy glasses? Is that it?”

“well yeah, please?” Naruto looked pleadingly at Sasuke and prepared her final blow: she squeezed her arms together in a way that pressed her breasts out just that little bit. She saw Sasuke glance down for a millisecond before looking away and she knew it was a knock out.

Sasuke turned back to her toaster and uncapped the jar of black paste “fine. You need me anyway. You’ll probably get lost otherwise.”

Naruto silently danced behind Sasuke’s back and did an air guitar solo. _YES, this is perfect! Win for Naruto you better believe it!_

_~_

It was brilliant, truly inspired. Naruto had asked Sasuke to help her choose the right glasses and now they were out, together! It was practically a date. All they had to do was something like eat ice-cream and then Sasuke would get stuff on her face and Naruto could jump in and do that thing that couples do with the licking and the—

“I think these curved ones are the best, though they are all kind of pricey.”

“Oh, thanks Sasuke, I have a bit saved up.” Naruto held up the frames and put her face close to the mirror; “do you think they have them in orange?”

“Why orange? I’ll ask that woman.”

“I just like it, that’s all” Naruto replied as Sasuke went to get the attention of the store attendant who wore about twelve pairs of different glasses around her neck.

Naruto had been perfectly fine with going out in her school uniform but apparently it was unacceptable, and they had stopped off at Naruto's apartment before heading to the spectacle store on the more southern side of the village.

Sasuke hadn’t wanted to come in for some reason and waited in the hall while Naruto rushed to get changed, tripping over various things left on the floor from the previous morning.

And now Sasuke stood, reflected in the mirror on the wall, talking to a lady while waving around a pair of frames. Naruto couldn’t help but feel that of any person she had ever seen wave around frames angrily, Sasuke was doing it the best.

“Just go look alright?” Sasuke said with finality and stomped back to Naruto. “She is looking, though you’d think she would have better vision working in a spectacle store. Or maybe her eyesight wasn’t the problem at all.” She finished with a scoff.

“They’re just glasses Sasuke; it’s not a big deal.”

“Sorry, I’m just a little allergic to idiocy” she said assuming a pissed off stance.

“Then you might need some anti-histamines if you’re going to be around me.”

Sasuke cooled down slightly and moved closer to Naruto “don’t be silly.” She said with a softer look on her face.

A small hand tapped Sasuke’s shoulder and with a stink eye, the store attendant handed over the orange frames, walking away without a word.

Naruto burst out laughing; “you really have a knack for getting on people’s bad side’s Sasuke” hunching over and slapping her leg “the look she gave you! I wish I had a photo of that HAHAHAHA”

Sasuke lightly punched Naruto's shoulder, then admittedly let herself smile “I suppose I do have an odd talent for it, must be from my dad.” She pulled Naruto's shoulders up straight, placing the glasses onto her face. “There you go, orange.”

Her face was close, and Naruto was impulsive. She moved forward and clumsily found Sasuke’s mouth with her own, letting herself take advantage of what would probably be the last moment Sasuke would ever look at her again. _Please acknowledge me._

“wh..wh…what the fuck!? Sasuke had pulled herself violently back and landed a punch on Naruto's cheek, knocking the glasses to the floor. The attendant took the opportunity and told them sternly that violence would not be tolerated, guiding them to the exit with a clinking of her chest adornments.

“I’m sorry, I... It was an accident.” Out on the street Naruto tried to cover her throbbing cheek with a hand and tasted metal in her mouth.

“Jesus fucking Lucifer, what the hell made you think that was okay? Leave me alone. And _don’t_ fucking follow me.” Sasuke turned, her hair swinging jerkily as she strode off.

“God dammit Naruto, why do you always fuck everything up?” Naruto whispered to herself and choked down a sob. _I’m cursed to make everyone hate me._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well I have been back at college so I haven't had as much timee to update, but I already have part of another chapter done so hopefully I will update it again soon ;D thanks for reading, please give me any advice if you can.


	8. Do not let it go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More characters make appearances and Naruto has more than her friendship with Sasuke to repair.

It had been two more days till there was school again, and Naruto had agonized the entire weekend over what to say to Sasuke. How could she possibly convince her that it was a complete impulse move and it didn’t mean…anything. Who was she kidding, she really just wanted to do it again.

When Monday came, Naruto screamed into her pillow before getting up, ate two cups of ramen and gripped the door handle till her palm started hurting. _She absolutely hates me._

~

Everything was going fine, there had never been anyone who made her feel…alive in the way that Naruto did. _Why Naruto… why did you have to do that._

Sasuke had gone to the library after that…incident, hoping to find a calm place to clear her head. She sat staring at a book of martial arts paintings, but she kept feeling a warm tingling on her lips.

The air in her home was stiff once again and when it came time to sleep she lay on the couch with a window open, the hollow rushing of the breeze sounding like a giant fox’s slow breathing.

~

Naruto had tried to get to class early, hoping to catch Sasuke as she was heading in to explain everything, but she hadn’t arrived.

Shika and Kiba and the others had been their usual selves, asking Naruto where she had been the past Friday and joking about her bright orange specs.

“I think they look …really nice N..Naruto, your eyes are very be..beautiful.” Hinata, Neji’s cousin piped up from behind Kiba. Hinata was a shy person but he had a calm presence that made Naruto feel safe.

Kiba giggled and nudged Hinata with her elbow, laughing at some inside joke. Hinata then went quiet and turned back to his textbook. “Thanks Hinata” Naruto said “a friend helped me pick them out.”

“A friend? Is that where you were on Friday?” Shika dropped in.

“Well yeah, It just happened so I didn’t really have –“

“Was it a friend, or a _friend_ hmm” Chouji asked with her favourite barbeque pork chips in her hand, one between each finger.

“Haha I dunno it was just a friend, I don’t know them very well” _but I think they are much more than they allow people to see._ Naruto said internally.

“Nobody cares. Class is starting soon so be quiet you lot” Neji yelled in a whisper as Iruka sensei strode in the door.

Sasuke didn’t arrive till after the second bell; only once glancing in Naruto's direction as she moved to take her seat. Naruto noticed that her bag was not her usual one and remembered the books and papers bobbing on the lake.

It was amazing how much clearer she could see with the glasses. The things Iruka sensei wrote weren’t just scribbles and her head didn’t hurt when she read for longer periods. It hadn’t been easy convincing the woman at the store to let her back in, but using all her savings had been a good decision after all.

~

Sasuke noted as she entered the class, that Naruto was sitting with the orange glasses neatly perched on her nose. She had expected dread and embarrassment to fill her, but rather there was a sense of… Sasuke wasn’t sure how to explain it, but it felt warm.

Being with Naruto had awakened something in Sasuke which she hadn’t felt for a long time, she was still angry with her for doing what she did, but she didn’t want to lose this feeling.

Lunch and afternoon tea passed without either of them speaking, Naruto lacked the certainty and Sasuke lacked the humility.  _Why should I care what she does, I was perfectly fine before she messed up everything._

Sasuke had had to borrow the school’s textbooks from the teacher, her excuse was she had her bag stolen from the library, which diverted most suspicion though the conversation did end up dragging on a bit. She had been bullied before of course and they couldn’t let that affect her grades before the funding came in.

Then just when Sasuke had been almost completely sure that things would return to how they were, before the weekend had happened, before she had let her walls down; a surprisingly skilled throw had aimed a paper ball right on Sasuke’s desk when Sensei turned her back. It nearly rolled off the edge but she swiped at it, wondering if it was what she thought it was:

A little fox sat in the corner of the crumpled page, its tail torn off. A speech bubble coming from its open jaws said:

**Do you hate me? Well if you do I guess that is fine but I still want to talk to you before you go back to treating me like I don’t exist. Meet me around the side of the basketball courts later.**

She was not going to let it go.

~

Naruto watched as Sasuke packed her things and walked out the class room almost before the final bell even rang. She wondered if Sasuke was trying to run away so Naruto couldn’t follow, _she wouldn’t be the first._

Naruto picked up her pen and notebook and shoved them into her pack, she would be damned before she let Sasuke leave without saying anything. Abruptly something yanked Naruto backwards, she hit her hand on a desk falling down and her head crashed against a chair leg.

“Someone’s trying to look smart” Sakura laughed and kicked her way past.

“Sakura! Go eat sand, you pimple!” retorted Naruto from the ground.

Ino chuckled and Sakura gave him a scowl. “Don’t talk to Sasuke, yeah I saw you throw that note. You are such a desperate little toad. No one wants you here so just fuck off back to kindergarten where you belong” tearing off Naruto's new glasses with a swift motion.

“No!” Naruto tried to grab for them but a hand on her shoulder stopped her.

The plastic snapped way too easily for the price she had paid, but Sasuke had chosen them for her, so she would have paid anything…

~

“oh they’re boken, well at least the glass hasn’t cracked” Naruto mumbled to herself when the two ogres left her defeated.

“you just need some glue.” A pleasant voice stated from behind; Sai crouched down and offered Naruto a roll of tape.

“Sai, you stopped me then, why did you do that? I could have kicked his ass.”

“hmm nope, you would have lost spectacularly. And your tits would have gotten deflated” she noted with a smile.

“Gee thanks.” Naruto offered doubtfully “look I really have to go somewhere, but thanks for the tape, I’ll get it back to you tomorrow.” She promised, heading out the door.

“Oh don’t worry about that, I stole it from Ino” Sai’s smile lingering long after her presence faded in the distance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew I am actually really happy with this chapter, Giving a glimpse of a few of the side characters here and their relationship with Naruto. Yeah Sasuke doesn't talk to anyone.. She really does not like making friends.


	9. Naruto's Kerfuffle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reuniting after their fight, Naruto must convince Sasuke to not shut herself away again.

Sasuke had almost walked halfway home before turning back. She couldn’t place her exact reason for doing so, but maybe it was just on impulse. Besides she really _did_ need to do some grocery shopping. She had run out of food yesterday and luckily she had been in the habit of skipping breakfast or she wouldn’t have made it to morning break.

She passed a few of her classmates heading home; Lee was walking on her hands for some strange reason, though she did it quite well Sasuke admitted, and beside her was that girl who collected bugs… _I forget her name._ The bug girl looked Sasuke square in the eye as she passed, or she thought she did, Sasuke couldn’t tell with those sunglasses on.

Naruto wasn’t there yet when Sasuke walked up beside the basketball courts, so she climbed up on a nearby wall, watching a few of the basketball club students play while she waited. _Since when do I wait for people?_

_~_

Naruto couldn’t run very well on her leg, still painful from that day, so she let herself walk around the school grounds to the rec centre. _Sasuke will definitely be there. She’ll wait for me._

At first she got confused about which way to go, walking through the centre and reaching a dead end, and then she realized she had to walk around the side of the building to get where she intended to go, her leg aching at this point.

But when she pushed through the gate…Sasuke wasn’t there.

“Oi. Over here, glasses. Yeah up here.”

Naruto turned to look up at Sasuke, standing high on a retaining wall; “There you are” she laughed. There was no way she was getting up there today.

“I don’t know why I actually came here, what could you say to me that might change things?”

“Well… do I have to change things?” Naruto wondered, “ we’re friends aren’t we? And the truth is that… I like you. I don’t want to change that.”

“Why would you waste your time liking someone like me?” Sasuke retorted, walking back and forth along the wall.

Naruto watched Kabuto do a slam dunk in the distance as she spoke: “Someone like you? You’re you, that’s _why_ I like you silly.”

“hm. Good answer. But what if I don’t like you back, or what if you realise that I’m not who you thought I am? What then? I don’t like people who can’t make up their minds.” She stared at Naruto then, wondering if this was pointless.

Naruto moved closer, she couldn’t let herself doubt what she felt “I’ve seen a side of you no one else has, and I want to see more. Even if things turn out badly, I’ll never regret knowing you Sasuke.” There wasn’t much else she could say, Naruto wasn’t very good at making complicated arguments, but her heart told her that this was the right thing.

Sasuke flew down elegantly and gripped Naruto's shirt by her collar. “I don’t like people who do things without my permission, so this time _I’m_ going to kiss _you_ on a whim.” Pulling her close and doing a much better job at kissing than Naruto's kerfuffle.

It lasted longer than before and Naruto raised her hand to touch Sasuke’s cheek and run her fingers through her hair, Sasuke still gripping Naruto's collar. Lightning shot through her chest as they let their lips part and tongues connected like a circuit, it felt cool in Sasuke’s mouth and tasted delicious, ecstasy filed her body persisting even after Sasuke had pulled away slowly.

“What happened to your glasses?” she observed the wad of tape on the bridge of Naruto’s nose.

“umm what?”

“Glasses” she repeated; poking them up on Naruto's face.

“oh ahah… yeah I kind of have a run in with Sakura and, well I could have taken him but Ino was there too and that guy is a psychopath if you ever get into a fight with—“

“Sakura and Ino? Seriously he is reaching the end of my patience.” Sasuke picked up her pack and began walking back around the courts.

“Hey, wait! That’s it? Does that mean… Does that mean you like me too? I mean even if you don’t that is okay we can still be friends right?” Naruto clambered after her.

“Yes.”

“Yes? Cripes Sasuke you really like being mysterious don’t’cha? Yes to what?”

“Yes, I think I like you. Can we drop it now please?”  A blush crept up Sasuke’s cheeks.

Naruto leapt up awkwardly, landing on her good leg and laughed “oh, oh my god! The HOLY GRAIL, this is amazing! I’ll never sleep again I feel so happy.” She continued beaming as she caught up with Sasuke, her new _girlfriend. Ahh that feels good!_

Sasuke chuckled and put a hand up to cover her face which was immediately grabbed and pulled back.

“Don’t hide it, I like to see it; your smile.”

Naruto was a strange girl, she didn’t try to bribe or own Sasuke and being with her made Sasuke want to do better, to be better. And not just for the sake of beating everyone else, but to find her purpose, her potential.

“Are you still having trouble with your leg? Maybe we could go to the hospital to get it checked out.” Sasuke spoke attempting to change the subject.

“Aww but I like it when you’re my doctor Sasuke, heal me Sasuke I’m damaged” she replied and pretended to swoon.

“Hmm, yes, I think you have some vital parts missing; and what’s this replacing your brain?” Sasuke searched through Naruto's hair dramatically, “Ahh it’s the miso ramen for sure. You know what this means right?”

Naruto looked up nervously “what? Ramen brain isn’t serious right?”

“It means you can only eat soba for the rest of your life”

“NOOO! Not soba. Just euthanize me, it will be the kinder choice.” Naruto gripped Sasuke’s arm as they walked and Sasuke gave in to the urge to wrap it around Naruto's shoulders.

_I might never be the person Naruto sees in me, but maybe if things stay like this, part of me can forget the curse that my brother gave me._

“oh I just remembered, I need to get some groceries.”

“Okay! I’ll help, and then you can stay over my place and cook me more of that tomato soup you like.”

“Why am I cooking?”

“I’m injured.”

“It’s your _leg!”_

“Don’t worry Sasuke I’ll draw you another picture to make up for it.”

“Usuratonkachi… well I guess you didn’t come last at one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“you’re the first friend I’ve had, Naruto.”

Naruto grinned her impossible grin and she couldn’t really feel any pain anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well here is to a neat happy little ending. I'd like to write more on these two in this universe because I just had so much fun with them. buut who knows. Thanks for reading !

**Author's Note:**

> I've never written anything before so I would really appreciate any constructive criticism you have. Hope you enjoyed it and Keep reading! Thanks :)


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